'Bitcoin 2.0' Currency NXT Reveals Plans for 2016

One of the few cryptocurrencies outside of Bitcoin to have any sort of long-term success is NXT. Even though this coin started out as a full Proof-of-Stake coin with no mining process involved, securing the network has proven to be relatively easy over time. Furthermore, various exchanges have shown an interest in listing NXT, and the LZF exchange is among the first ones to create a fiat currency trading pair for this alternative digital currency.

Sitting Down With NXT Foundation’s Dave Pearce

Over the past year or so, there have been very few articles regarding NXT, despite the cryptocurrency sponsoring multiple events around the world. One of the biggest events to feature this digital currency was Bitcoin 2014, where the team had a booth. In addition, the NXT team held a short presentation during this three-day conference as well.

Ever since that time, the media has been fairly quiet about NXT for some reason, but that doesn’t mean interest in the coin has waned. Bitcoin.com was fortunate enough to chat with NXT Foundation’s Dave Pearce and ask him some questions regarding what is going on in their ecosystem these days. Now that NXT can be traded against the US Dollar on the LZF exchange, it looks like interesting times are ahead.

Bitcoin.com (BC): What are your thoughts on LZF bringing a NXT/USD pair to the table? Are you expecting a huge interest in NXT now that direct trading against fiat is possible?

Dave Pearce (DP): It’s always good news to hear of a new market for NXT though LZF is still a bit ‘under the radar’ for most of the Nxt community. Nxt does already have a couple of exchanges with NXT<>fiat markets: on BTC38 (NXT<>CNY) and on CCEDK (NXT<>EUR+), as well as several brokers such as Coinimal and Litebit. My expectation is that this listing will be positive for NXT, LZF seems like a good, professional organisation, but I don’t expect earth-shattering news.

BC: NXT has been sponsoring a fair bit of events, with Reinvent.Money being one of the latest ones recently. As a developer, what does this type of publicity mean for you? Do you try to convey a specific message about development at these events, or is it “just” promotional?

DP: For many events (certainly at Reinvent Money) the audience is quite varied, so the most important messages to get across are the more general ones: what is cryptocurrency ? What is Nxt? How can Nxt be used?

There is always a lot of networking involved at any conference, and sometimes this networking will have a direct influence on Nxt development: for example the possibility of a new Nxt feature or project implementation. The amount of cross-fertilisation and new ideas that happen at conferences can sometimes be overwhelming. To sum it up: conferences are primarily about raising the profile of Nxt, but a lot more happens at conferences than only promotion…

“The 1.7 release will bring a lot of interesting features, including a coin shuffling system.”

BC: I know you guys are working hard, so I’ll just ask the brief question: What will NXT do to make headlines in 2016? No need to go into details, just answer as short or long as you can without spoiling too much.

DP: Well … we’re busy with setting up many elements of the Tennessee project, including a new emphasis on marketing/PR and on making the Nxt user experience as easy as possible. One big step that we are taking there is to create a helpdesk service for all Nxt users; this should be going live before the end of the year.

On the development front, the 1.7 release will bring a lot of interesting features, including a coin shuffling system. We’ve just completed a review of the Shuffling system with Tim Ruffing (originator of the Coin Shuffle system for BTC), and he is happy with the Nxt implementation.

There’s going to be a lot more, including several magazine/book releases that will give us some great tools to explain and promote Nxt to the more mainstream world, not just inside the crypto scene.

The Bitcoin.com team would like to thank Dave Pearce for taking the time to answer our questions on such short notice.

What are your thoughts on the NXT digital currency? Do you have any experience with it, and if so, would you like to tell us your story? Let us know in the comments below!

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Jean-Pierre Buntinx

Jean-Pierre Buntinx is a freelance Bitcoin writer and Bitcoin journalist for various digital currency news outlets around the world, Jean-Pierre also has a keen interest in Fintech and technology, and he is always open to new challenges.

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